Her car was found in her family's driveway with her purse, cellphone and one of her shoes still inside on that early September morning. Her body was found off a dirt road in Bullitt County on Sept. 27.

Stanley Dishon, 55, the 17-year-old's uncle, is charged with kidnapping and murder.

He was already behind bars serving 10 years on an unrelated case.

Bullitt County Sheriff Dave Greenwell took the case personally.

"Actually, I was the first deputy on the scene that took the original report," said Greenwell.

When he became sheriff, he decided to re-examine every piece of evidence and the investigation went into high gear a few months ago.

"I acted on some tips I received and we followed up on it. I assigned Detective Lynn Hunt to the case," he said.

Greenwell credited Hunt, who used to work with the Louisville Metro Police homicide unit, and current Louisville Detective Gary Huffman with making the case against Stanley Dishon, the brother of Jessica's father.

He isn't the first person accused in the teen's killing.

David "Bucky" Brooks was charged with murder in 2001, but his 2003 trial ended in a mistrial and prosecutors chose not to retry him.

The sheriff would not criticize the actions of previous investigators.

"I can only assume they all acted on the information they had at the time," Greenwell said.

According to Greenwell, his review of the file found no one ever questioned Stanley Dishon.

The case led to a long-running feud between the Brooks family and the Dishon family, which Greenwell said he hoped the indictment would help mend.

At one point while discussing the case, Greenwell broke down with emotion as reporters asked him how the Dishon case compared to others he worked.

"I mean, on a personal note, it's a major relief for me. Just to see something from that long ago," Greenwell said.

The sheriff declined to say if Stanley Dishon had confessed.

The former Bullitt County sheriff who led the original investigation said the case has been one of the biggest regrets of his career in law enforcement.

"I have not forgotten about that case ever since it happened and I have woke up at night thinking about it, wishing there was something I could do, but I never could find anything to do," said former sheriff Paul Parsley.

Parsley said he hopes the indictment will bring closure to both the Dishon family and the Brooks family.

Parsley said he was always torn on Brooks as a suspect.

"I never believed all along that Bucky did it and I told them that, but when you got deputies that are doing their job and they've got evidence, you can't tell them not to present their evidence," Parsley said.

Parsley said he isn't sure if Stanley Dishon ever came up as a person of interest when his department investigated the case.

"I'd seen this little girl grow up, and we put a lot of time and effort into this, trying to find out who did it, and it's real sad when you find a family member did something like this," Parsley said.

Brooks' attorney, John Spainhour said his client is feeling relieved about the indictment.

"It is one thing to know, well I didn't do this, but no jury has said I haven't or there is a reasonable doubt that I haven't and to have this come forward, it's a step toward total vindication," Spainhour said.

Spainhour said Stanley Dishon was always among a group of people on their radar for who could have been behind the crime.

Spainhour said Brooks does not hold resentment toward law-enforcement officials, despite the financial, mental and physical toll the case has taken on him and his family.

"The stress of that hastened his father's death and weakened his mother's condition and she has since passed and has been a crucible for the whole family," Spainhour said.

Spainhour said Brooks could testify if the case makes it to trial because he was one of the last people to see Jessica Dishon.

Jessica's brother, Michael Dishon, said the family is not going to speak publicly about the case until it's adjudicated.

He said his sister was funny, loving and very protective and said it is pure joy knowing someone is going to be held accountable.

Stanley Dishon is serving a 10-year sentence for first-degree sodomy and was indicted in August on unrelated rape, sexual abuse and sodomy charges dating back to 1982. Police said that victim was a girl less than 12 years old.

He was moved from a state facility to the Bullitt County Detention Center a couple of weeks ago.